Disclaimer: Believe me, if I owned them AT ALL this P.O.S storyline would be toast and Lavery, Di, and Simone (but just recently) would get mowed down by a drunk JR.
A/N: Anyone else COMPLETELY irritated with the crap that is being spewed off your TV these days? Sorry, I'm just in one of those moods and AMC isn't helping things at all! I have played with some of the events a touch - I like this version of the hospital much better than the schlock the writers came up with. Also, slight homage to James Scott - not going to miss Ethan a bit, but James sure was good to look at!

Zach flipped open the file and shook his head, willing himself back into concentration. After re-reading the same paragraph five times, he became supremely frustrated and took that frustration out on the file, throwing it across the room, watching as the papers scattered.

He collapsed into his chair, staring at the papers strewn across the floor. It had been a month since his world had been turned upside down – the blackout reveal, the explosion, Ethan's death, his reluctant return to Cambias…

Zach and Simone were still, staring at the door that Joe had gone through an hour earlier with Ethan. People tried to get them to sit, to talk, to drink some water, but neither one budged. Joe walked out of the door, shaking his head, pulling the scrubs off his body and Zach knew – he knew he would never get the chance to make things right with Ethan. In the back of his mind, he heard Simone screaming, collapsing into a sobbing heap on the floor, surrounded by Joe, Julia, and any number of interns. Zach continued to stare at the door as he slid down the wall, bringing his knees to his chest.

Kendall and Ryan flew through the doors, immediately taking in the scene. They froze as they watched Simone scream no over and over again. Ryan went to her, trying to calm her down while Kendall's eyes landed on Zach, curled up in the corner, stone faced, staring at the door to the operating room. She walked over to him and crouched down, touching his knees and whispering his name.

Hearing his name come from her lips shook him from his trance. He could feel the tears forming in his eyes and he knew he had to get away, be alone, not cause anyone else any pain or hurt. No one had really believed him about the Cambias curse and now his son was dead, and he died thinking that Zach wanted nothing to do with him, that Zach hated him, and it was eating him up inside.

Kendall could only stare as Zach pushed himself off the floor and walked away, not uttering a word. She screamed his name, begging him to turn around and look at her, but he kept on walking like she was invisible.

It was a clear crisp day. It would have been an enjoyable day if it weren't for the fact that the entire town was gathered at the cemetery to bury Ethan Ramsey. Zach stood at the back of the crowd, arriving late so that he didn't have to deal with the stares and the whispers. He had let Simone take care of everything, offering to pay for whatever she wanted to do – just to let him know where to send the check. He looked at her in the front row as the priest read the prayers, broken and a shell of the fun and free-spirited woman he had shared a drink with in the casino not too long ago. Gone was the woman that wanted to make things right between him and Ethan, between him and Kendall.

Kendall watched him throughout the ceremony, waiting for him to see her, acknowledge her, show some kind of emotion, but there was none there, and that scared her more than anything. He had opened up to her, showed her more emotion than she thought was possible, but that man seemed to be gone and she didn't know if he would ever return. She tried to follow him as the funeral ended, but she got caught up in the crush of people, grabbed by Ryan so that they could get Simone settled into Myrtle's for the time being, until she decided where she wanted to be.

Zach dug his keys out of his pocket, wanting nothing more than to drain the two bottles of scotch he was carrying. As he rounded the corner to the courtyard, two men got up off the bench, staring at him. He had seen them at the funeral, staring at him instead of paying their respects to his fallen son. He wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of both of them.

"Mr. Slater?" one asked.

"I'm not interested" Zach muttered, pushing past them to his front door. He threw it open and they followed him in before he had a chance to close the door.

"Mr. Slater, I am Scott Anderson and this is my associate James Wilson. We are the heads of the legal department for Cambias Industries." This got Zach's attention. He put his bag down on the counter and walked over to one of the chair, sitting down, motioning them to do the same.

"We are sorry about the loss of Mr. Ramsey and we feel bad about having to do this today, but business stops for no man." Scott Anderson pulled some paperwork out of his briefcase and handed it to Zach. "What is this?" he asked, flipping it open.

"It's a copy of your father's will." Zach's eyes shot up, staring at the two men. "Why are you giving me a copy…"

"Please read part 36A on page…." Zach threw the paper on the coffee table. "How about one of the two of you hit the highlights for me instead." The two men looked at each other and nodded.

James cleared his throat. "Well, Mr. Slater, it would seem that your father stipulated that, as long as a Cambias heir was alive, that that person should be the head of the company. We didn't make a big deal about it while Mr. Ramsey was alive once he was able to prove his lineage, but now…"

"It's falling to me" Zach whispered to himself. It didn't matter how hard he tried, Cambias always came back to haunt him.

"Now, there are things that can be done if you aren't interested, but that will take some time and most business will have to stopped in the mean time, which would be a shame since Mr. Ramsey was doing some very good work and…" Zach just stared at the two men as they prattled on and on. He listened as they talked about the charities that Ethan had helped in his time at Cambias, about the improvements he had made to worker benefits and to working conditions and Zach knew what he had to do. 'I let Ethan down in his life, just like Michael. There is no way that I can't do this' he thought to himself.

"OK" he said, stopping them mid sentence. "OK, yeah. What do I need to do?"

The two men shot off the couch. "The Cambias Jet is waiting to fly us to New York. We need to…"

"Whatever" Zach said, getting out of the chair. "Just give me a few minutes to pack." Zach didn't wait for their reply, just heading to his bedroom to pack clothes.

Kendall threw her car into park, wanting nothing else than to be with Zach. Her fight with Ryan after leaving Simone with Myrtle had been the last straw. He wanted to take her out of dinner, she told him that she needed to see Zach. She slapped him with all her might as she started in on how if Zach had just left them all alone, none of this would have happened. He accused her of being emotional, she told him he was an asshole and to leave her the hell alone. She ran to the car and took off, leaving him standing on the curb, screaming at her. She grabbed her purse out of the passenger seat and looked out the window to see Zach getting into a black limo with two men she had seen at the funeral. She stepped out of the car and screamed his name, but it was too late. He was gone and she had no idea where he was going.

His trance was broken when Edie cleared her throat.

"Another accident?" she asked, pushing open the door and walking in with more papers. He just stared at her, but that stare soon turned to rage as she handed him a blue file.

"MORE OF THIS CRAP" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

He had been in New York for two weeks already with no end in sight. Worse than being here with the Cambias vultures were the constant messages from Kendall on his office voice mail, his cell phone, through the secretary. He couldn't bear to call her back, not when all of this was hanging over his head, weighing him down. He was sitting in a meeting, being brought up to speed when the doors to the boardroom were thrown open.

"Everyone stop right now" the man said, walking over to Zach. Zach stood up and took the blue file from the man. "What is this!" Zach demanded.

"It is a temporary injunction to stop you from conducting the business of Cambias Industries. Ryan Lavery is suing for control of the company, saying that Ethan Ramsey hand picked him to be in charge. You have been served, Mr. Slater." Zach was stunned and could only stare as the man left, leaving him reeling. The lawyers immediately took the papers from him and started reading. They pulled out their cell phones and started making calls. By that night, Zach was back in charge, but only temporarily, until a full shareholders meeting could be called and a vote could be taken.

Zach skimmed the file and slammed it down on the desk, rattling everything in the room, including Edie. He stalked around his desk and headed out of the office, toward the elevators.

"Where are you going?" she asked, running behind him.

"To the bar" he growled out, punching the button. He didn't even look at her as the elevator door closed. Edie sighed and collapsed at her desk. Zach was stretched thin and on the brink of losing it. Everyone's job was hard right now and Edie knew she couldn't do anymore than she already was. Edie opened her desk drawer and pulled out a small black book. She flipped a couple of pages until she found the information she needed. She thought for a moment, but knew she had no choice. She picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hey, it's Edie…. Yeah, I know… Not so good… yeah, I do, I think you need to get here as soon as humanly possible."

TBC…